Skeleton's recovery creates sensation in Muzaffarpur

MUZAFFARPUR: The recovery of a damaged human skeleton on Monday morning from the small covered drain in front of the house of a teenaged girl, Navruna (14), on Jawaharlal Road has created sensation in the town. The girl's parents as well as the police refused to identify the body because of its rotten condition. The girl was kidnapped 67 days ago.

SSP Rajesh Kumar said the skeleton was being sent to Patna-based forensic laboratory to identify the skeleton's age. The result of the test was expected within a week, the SSP said adding the DNA test of the parents might be required only when the age of the skeleton is ascertained. The SSP said that the bones looked as if it belonged to some elderly person and it was also not known when the body was put in the drain. Strangely, the skeleton did not emit any foul smell.

The SSP, however, suspect the hand of a worker from Nidan engaged in doing town cleaning work on behalf of the municipal corporation. He who recovered the body from the drain. He informed the media and SSP on phone about recovering the body but did not inform the kidnapped girl's parents. He would be interrogated by the police as to how he started digging the drain at the particular place.

On the other hand, the kidnapped girl's parents Atulya Chakravorty and Maitri Devi said the body did not resemble that of a young girl. They showed the frock of their kidnapped daughter to prove she was not even an adult. They said they had requested the Nidan worker to ensure the mud would be removed immediately being taken out of the drain. But when he refused, they contacted the mayor, Varsha Singh. The mayor then sent another lot of workers. On the direction of the municipal councillor, Poonam Sinha's husband Rakesh Ranjan, the workers started removing slabs from an abandoned portion of the drain to clean it. It was then that the skeleton was recovered. The skull and some large pieces of bones, kept inside a rotten gunny bag, were taken out of the drain. A few pieces of rotten clothes resembling a pair of boy's jeans were also found in the gunny bag.

Incidentally, the girl was wearing only bermudas on the night of September 19 when was kidnapped from her bedroom. The skull and bones have been collected by policemen and taken to Town PS from where they were sent to Patna for forensic test.

Navruna's parents reiterated on Monday that their daughter was kidnapped only after negotiation for selling their land and house started. They said they were negotiating their sale with three property dealers, Ranjit Thakur, Mukesh Thakur and Prabhu Dayal. Police have so far arrested three persons in connection with Navruna's kidnapping case. The arrested persons are still in jail but the girl has not yet been recovered.